Checking in on the Athena Club Shaving Subscription

In June I decided to try out the Athena Club’s Shaving Subscription. The base intro price was $9 and this got you a reusable handle, two sets of razor blades and a handy wall mount. Refills were $12 for a pack of four razers and you could get them at 1, 2 or 3 month intervals.

I know it is no real surprise that I was trying out shaving subscriptions. I’ve been trying to reduce waste and eliminating disposable razors seemed like a simple step forward. I also seem to forget to buy razors until the one I am using is so dull that it no longer works for shaving. So a subscription that sends me blades reminds me I need to change them out and so I have less of a problem.

still on the wall (handles come in other colors, I just liked the blue)

The problem has been that shaving subscriptions made me feel a bit like Goldilocks. This razor had a metal handle with no texture on it so it kept sliding out of my wet hands. That one had a moisture strip that stuck out further than the blades which just moisturized my leg hairs instead of shaving them off. This one had a blade that had too much flexibility so I found it hard to get everything cut and found large swaths of my legs were missed entirely despite using the razor.

All I seemed to be doing was accumulating reusable razer blade handles.

Athena I liked enough to keep for a while. The blade had flexibility but not too much flexibility. The moisture strip was just enough but not too much, and this far the wall mount is still on the wall. It has a 3M adhesive on the back rather than a suction cup and a magnet to hold on the razor.

I love that it is a flat surface that is slightly angled so it doesn’t accumulate water to stand on it. I also love that it is still attached to my wall. It has not fallen, shifted, slid or allowed my razor to drop into the bath tub. All of which have been issues in the past

The blades lasted me about three weeks (I am not a terribly hairy person). At the three week mark, the moisture strip was about gone and I noticed the razor wasn’t shaving as well, so I replaced the blade and was happy once again.

Today the Athena Club Razor replacement pack arrived. The plastic mailer is about six inches long by about 4.5 inches tall. The bag holding the razors is just enough smaller than the mailer to fit into the bag. While each of the four razors are individually packaged, the bag they come in is a thin plastic with a zip top. I believe it is recyclable, or at least I am going to try to put it in my plastics bin and see if they take it.

What I like about it, is the outer zip top bag, is waterproof. This means it can be slipped into my little shower caddy so that I can see it and remember to change the blades when I need to. It also means it won’t get lost somewhere and have to be located each time i want to change a blade. I am on the once every three month plan so I will get another pack of replacement blades in October. If I find I need more I can always request them. If I find I don’t need them or need to skip a month, I can. I actually like the timing, because if October works out, that means I won’t need new razors until January.

outer packaging, nails horrid as I pilled weeds this weekend

Which means I won’t forget them during the holidays (either to order or to delay the order because I am out of town) so for me that timing is perfect.

I know it isn’t much more information than my first review of the subscription, but since I actually kept this one long enough to actually get the refill pack, I thought I would offer that update for you. While everyone has their own needs and preferred style I am actually quite pleased with the Athena club. I haven’t tried out any of their other products like shave lotion or body wash because I didn’t want to get attached to a product if I didn’t like the razor. Now that I know I like the razor and will be keeping the subscription I’ll be trying out some of their other products, so stay tuned.

Trying out the Athena Shave Club

Covering the shipping label to protect the location of my secret underground lair

Over the past few years I have been trying to eliminate many of the disposable items in my personal routines. Disposable razers have been trickier than I anticipated. My quest to find a reusable razor I liked has led me to several shaving subscriptions.

It has also made me feel a bit like Goldilocks.

This razors handle is too slick to grip properly in the shower. This one had too much movement in the blade. This one had a moisture strip that I don’t like. Each one seemed to have one major issue that made me not want to commit to continuing the membership. So for a while I was just collecting reusable razor handles that I wasn’t going to reuse. So I took a break from the shaving subscriptions for a while.

It helped that I had a stock of disposable razors that I needed to work through. It was one of the items my babydoll stocked up on before lockdown, still not sure why but disposable razors and Doritos were his two panic purchases. Apparently in his mind if you have those, you are safe.

I am now down to the last few so I figured it was time once again to delve into the shaving subscriptions. Enter Athena Club. The initial kit is $9 and comes with a reusable handle in an array of colors. I chose the dark blue because I like blue and also I sometimes take out my contacts before I shower so a dark handle against white tile is easy to find when the world is turned into an impressionist’s painting. There is a razor attached and one extra packaged blade. There is also a wall mount.

The wall mount for the razor is magnetic. On the back it has a 3M sticker rather than a suction cup, which is actually better for me. I put it in place nearly a month ago and it hasn’t moved at all. (We have yet to renovate the bathrooms and the previous owner put one of those plastic shell surrounds over the existing tile work and suction cups simply do not stick to it. This does.)

I really like that the magnetic part is just a flat magnet. It not only makes the razor easy to grab and to put away, but it’s flat surface means water can’t collect in plastic folds and cause problems. Sometimes the problems are just trapped sale water, other times mold and nastiness. Having it flat is fantastic. It makes that a non issue. It is also angled so water doesn’t sit on it.

The razor too is angled. I think part of the angle is so that when it is on the wall mount it is out of the way and less likely to be knocked about. It also makes it better for shaving. I found the angle in the handle made for easy maneuvering. The moisture strip is moisturizing, but not overly so. While the barrel of the handle is metal it is solid without being overly heavy and the rubberized material coating it makes it less slippy than plain metal would be.

It is backwards, after I took the plastic razor cover off I turned the blades to face the wall and the angle kept it tucked away neatly

The bottom line is that I had a really good shave. The head didn’t bend overly much, just the right amount for flexibility and I enjoyed using it. In fact, I think I may have found a shaving subscription that I can keep for a while. The refill packs are $12 for four new blade packs every three months.

I think this is very reasonable and about on par with other subscription services. For now I am just using the razor but there is the opportunity to add other items. They have the expected shaving foam, but they also have body wash, period care, wellness items and even candles. I haven’t tried any of their other items yet (I wanted to see if i liked the razor first figuring there was no point in possibly falling in love with something from the store if I didn’t like the razor) but they are all cruelty free and things like pantyliners come in biodegradable wrappers so I suspect, now that I know I like the razor and am keeping the Athena Club subscription, I will be dipping back in to see what other products I like. For now, I am just please that I have finally found a reusable razor that I really enjoy.

Let’s Talk Reusable Makeup Cloths

Finding reusable products instead of disposable items is something that is really important to me. I have been doing my best to eliminate waste in my routine wherever possible. I have reusable rounds instead of disposable pads for products like toners and I use wash cloths and reusable makeup wipes for my makeup and mask removal.

The Turkish Towel company recently sent a set of six Makeup removal washcloths for me to try out and review. I’ve seen their towels before and have actually been contemplating picking up one of their robes for quire some time, but I missed the fact that they have Makeup cloths. Currently on their site the Turkish Towel Company has a set of twelve Cloths for $44. which boils down to $3.67 per cloth and given that you can more than likely reuse these cloths for years makes it a really good deal.

These look like washcloths and have the word makeup embroidered on the front. So I am surprised that i missed them. They are 100% cotton, which I absolutely love. I am a big fan of natural fibers. I don’t mind using non-natural ones in some cases but if i can use natural it is my first choice.

I have only been using these cloths for a week (maybe a little less). As there are six of them in a pack that means that they just came back from their first laundry day. I’m sure many of you know from pictures that I am a fan of both dark colored lipsticks and charcoal masks. Both are the reasons that many of my wash cloths and reusable cloths have some staining on them.

In fact one of my favorite charcoal based masks (The Annmarie Charcoal Cacao Mask) is the reason that several of my wash cloths have gray splotches permanently on them. It is an excellent mask and they do warn you it can stain, for me it definitely did (but still well wroth using which is why I just picked a wash cloth to use specifically with the mask)

hung up to dry after use, once dry they are put in the wash with other dark colored items, easy peasy no special wash

Thus far everything has washed out of these Makeup Cloths from the Turkish Towel Company with zero staining. Now they are black to begin with so they have a leg up, but honestly making a reusable makeup removal cloth out of dark material just shows good sense. These cloths are soft and absorbent (hello, 100% cotton). Six cloths gives me enough so that I can use a different cloth every workday with one for masking and then just put them in the laundry. I hang them up to dry after use and then when dry just put them in the wash with the rest of the laundry.

I wash them with other dark colors, mostly jeans and towels and There was no issue when they came out of the dryer. I simply folded them and stacked them for another week of use. I will be using them as my makeup removing cloths exclusively for a full month just to get a feel for how they wear, and then I’ll be mixing them with the other cloths that I use.

Thus far, these makeup cloths from The Turkish Towel Company look like real winners. Hopefully they will stand the test of time. If they do it will give my other wash cloths some much needed relief from potential staining. And it will make me much less worried when I restock the Annmarie Charcoal Cacao Mask which is a definite plus.

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Trying out the Refreshments Razor

As many of you know, I am in an ongoing struggle to reduce the amount of waste I produce. I use Makeup Erasers instead of disposable removal cloths and I have been adding reusable cotton rounds to my routine to reduce the number of disposable ones I use.

One of the places I have been looking to reduce my waste is in the use of a reusable razor rather than disposable ones. I have tried several shaving subscription services and quite frankly I have felt a bit like Goldilocks along the way. This one handle is too smooth and therefore slides a little too much when my hands are wet. That one has a razor head that swivels too much.

Each subscription has had it’s pros and cons, but none has been perfect.

The latest attempt at filling my reusable razor needs has been IPSY’s new Refreshments service. In my last shipment from them I received a reusable handle, a suction cup holder and two sets of blades.

The holder is nothing special. It does the job but isn’t really noteworthy. There is nothing really special about it. The handle though, I was very impressed by. It has some weight to it, but is not too heavy. It is sturdy enough to last a long time. It is composed of metal with rubberized grip to prevent slipping in the shower. In fact the razor handle looked as though it took in the notes from all the shaving services I tried before and used my notes to create a fantastically practical handle.

The blade too looked nice. It flexed well but not too much.

Let me tell you, I had high hopes my darlings. And as two sets of blades could be winging their way to me as part of my IPSY box each month for the price of $5, I thought this might be the one.

And then I used it.

I don’t know how well the image translates, but above and below the blades are moisture strips. They provide a gel like glide over the skin. I used it and it felt nice. I could feel the gel like glide. The problem? The strips are too big. I felt the gel on my leg from the strips and then ran my hand over my leg to find none of the hair had been shaved off. The strips prevented the razor from doing it’s job.

I had to go in with one of the last remaining disposables in my stockpile to actually shave my legs. The gel from the Refreshments razor did make that shave quite smooth and lovely.

But that isn’t the point.

The point is that I tried using the razor several times but couldn’t get it to shave until the majority of the gel strips wore off. I had to try with the refreshments razor and then failing, go in with a disposable. Once the strips wore away I could shave with the razor, and then it did give quite the nice shave. But a much as I like the handle, I am not going to be making this my shaving subscription. In theory I could take an exacto blade and cut off the gel strips before I use it, but I don’t feel like I should have to shave my razor before I use it to shave my legs. I was enthused by the ease of the subscription and I really did like the handle. But if the razor doesn’t work properly then there is no real point to it. The Refreshments subscription is not for me. The quest continues for a reusable razor and shaving subscription service that i am willing to keep. Thus far i have tried several that were good but not perfect. I may never find perfect and circle back to the best of those I have already tried. But for now, the quest continues.